Barnabas File

If memory serves me correctly, there was once a television game show called, “Who Do You Trust?” Despite the questionable grammar, this is not a bad question for Baptists today. One of the casualties of the controversy among Baptists in the south was trust. Keeping and maintaining trust is also one of the greatest challenges for the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship movement today. As the battle was joined in the eighties, the key question from those seeking to move the convention in a new direction was, “Can we really trust those who are leading our institutions?” What that really meant was, “Are they doing it our way?” and the answer was “No.” In the course of the controversy, many who had been leaders came to the point that they could not trust those in the institutions that they were attempting to "save" from the insurgents. (For more on this, read Cecil Sherman’s By My Own Reckoning .) Some of the institutional heads saw their defenders as “more trouble” than the lea...

In our church’s worship, we regularly recite the Lord’s Prayer. I think this is a positive addition that encourages worshippers of all ages to adopt a proper perspective on our relationship to God, God’s world, and our role in that world. The recitation of the Prayer also provides a sense of unity and connection with the universal church. Author Brian McLaren has provided an alternative spoken version of the Lord’s Prayer that uses unfamiliar words and phrasing to help us to hear the message of the Prayer in a new way. McLaren suggests using it in public worship by having a leader recite a line, having the congregation echo it, and then leaving a moment of silence for reflection. Our Father, above us and all around us, May your unspeakable Name be revered. Here to earth, may your kingdom come. Here on earth, may your will be done as it is in heaven. Give us today our bread for today. And forgive us our wrongs as we forgive those who wrong us. Lead us away from the time of trial. But li...

I have been blogging for two years now and have posted over 120 blogs, over 40 this year alone. The medium gives me a good opportunity to reflect, organize my thoughts, and seek feedback from anyone who might be interested. Responses come occasionally and often from unexpected places. Recently I was involved in a conversation about blogs with a couple of colleagues. One was talking about how much time it took to do his blog and how he researched it very carefully. The other talked about the way he put his together and the joy he received form doing it. This started me thinking about different kinds of blogs and the approaches that individuals take to their blogs. First, there are the “rants.” These are written by folks who just want to complain, attack, or get something off their chests. Some of these have been used in church conflict situations to further the cause of one side of the other. I don’t follow any of that type of blog. I can do my own rants! Second, some blogs ar...